Summary: The 4th International Odissi Dance Festival in 2011 was held from December 23 to 30, 2011, at Rabindra Mandap Bhubaneswar. The festival was preceded by an attempt to create a world record by having around 550 dancers perform together at Kalinga Stadium. It saw the participation of most major Odissi ensembles in Orissa and a few from outside the state. With performances for over twelve hours each day, the festival featured several hundred performers in solo, duet and group works over eight days. In its scale, the festival offered a bird's eye view of the landscape of contemporary Odissi and its ever-changing nature. It foregrounded new trends in choreography, music and costuming. The seminars during the festival sparked lively debates on issues and concerns in Odissi. One such concern, voiced repeatedly, questioned the definition of tradition within the space of the dance form and the limits it could be stretched to. This raised parallel questions about innovation and experimentation in Odissi - a debate that found itself mirrored in the performances during the festival.

Amanda Geroy began her performing career at the age of six. Her first Odissi guru was Jyoti Rout, with whom she started studying in 1999. In 2000, Amanda spent six months intensively studying in India under the direction of Guru Jyoti Rout and Guru Padma Charan Dehury. During that time Amanda also studied Odissi mardala drum and Oriya language and immersed herself in Oriya culture. Amanda followed up with a second trip to India in 2001 for two months. Amanda finally shifted to India on a long-term basis in December of 2006. Since that time she has been living in Orissa and training under the guidance of Sujata Mohapatra at Srjan, Bhubaneswar. Now, she divides her time between USA and India, performing and teaching independently and with Mohapatra.

Here, she performs an Oriya abhinaya, a composition of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. A freshly bathed Radha is on her way to pick flowers, when she is accosted by Krishna. What follows is this song.

After a bath, Radha is on her way to pick flowers for her puja when she is accosted by Krishna. Let me go, don't block my way, she implores him.
Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Kelucharan Mohapatra gharana
Oriya abhinaya
Radha to Krishna
Srjan
Sujata Mohapatra